Don't be fooled by the name, the sturdy escarole in this recipe stays crunchy even after getting doused with a warm (yes, not cold!) vinaigrette.

Welcome to Meatless Monday, a column in which we feature vegetarian recipes to help offset the weekend’s carnivorous sins.

Despite being largely uncooked, a good salad can be a finicky dish to master. If you think about it, truly bangin' salads are usually a result of impeccable flavor balance and great timing. Is the dressing amazing? Do the croutons make the salad hearty without being overwhelming? In other words, do all the toppings work together, and is everything still crunchy? Ain't nobody got time to eat a pile of soggy green mush.

Despite all that, we know not everyone has the luxury to make a salad to order every day. Especially on Mondays, when most of us would rather stay in bed than pack lunch. So we're going to let you in on a secret: you can eat a tasty salad and get enough sleep too — just be sure to use a heartier leaf, like the escarole in this recipe. The sturdy greens are a fantastic vehicle for the warm, red-pepper-flecked anchovy vinaigrette; they work with the chewy croutons to balance the salty-spicy dressing, all while maintaining their crunch. Even if you let the whole thing sit for a little while. That sounds like a pretty solid win to us. Now go pack that lunch.